The author of this Vietnam War memoir was drafted in November 1966 just before completion of his Ph.D. work in French history and entered the army, age 26, in February 1967. He arrived in Vietnam in April 1968. Serving as both pointman and sniper, he experienced six weeks of frontline duty, averaging a firefight each week with heavy casualties. With his advanced degree and a $2.50 case of beer for a bribe, he then transferred to the 19th...